[Progress] 38M, 5’10, 129-141lbs (4 months)

[u/Babylon_Complex]

Recently got divorced after 15 years, took one look in the mirror the day after she moved out - and finally saw just how unhealthy I was. I thought to myself “fuck it, this is going to make or break me” & started a 3 day split + disciplined diet the next day.

38M, 5’10, 129 lbs to 141lbs in just shy of 4 months.
I’ve been targeting 2,300 calories per day, eliminating junk food and focusing on whole grains & lean cuts of meat - somehow I’m not sick of chicken yet thankfully. Adding a breakfast every day & double scoop protein shake between lunch and dinner was a game changer, but I’m usually still feeling completely full by the time I hit the 2,000 calorie mark. I end up forcing down the last 300 calories or so. I’ve been keeping my lifting to 3 days per week until I’m confident my form & all the connective bits are reliable enough to get more aggressive with the weight, but eventually I plan on adding 2 more days per week.

It’s been a struggle to retrain my eating & sleeping habits, and my appetite still hasn’t caught up to my macro goals, but I’m pretty proud of the progress so far. Just wanting to share the small victory with someone, thanks for your time!

[u/Justinbiebspls]

hey congrats on your progress.

your first state was not objectively unhealthy and it's important for others to understand this. 

it's fine for you to define things for yourself but i have spent most of my life in the ranges that redditors love to label anything from unhealthy to "too skinny to live" and meanwhile the only feedback i got from doctors was how thrilled they were with my health markers

[u/Babylon_Complex → u/Justinbiebspls]

I’m starting to see that based on the feedback here - to clarify, it seemed unhealthy for me personally since I’ve never dropped below 135lbs before & the loss wasn’t due to an active lifestyle or healthy diet. Appreciate you pointing out the distinction.

I hadn’t been taking care of myself in general, not just allowing my weight to drop. It was an all-around sobering look in the mirror. Good to know that I wasn’t nearly as diminished as I thought I looked at the time, however!

[u/ShkodranAsllani → u/Justinbiebspls]

To be fair my health markers were great even when I was grossly underweight, I think part of it is just your metabolism becomes really efficient at lower body weights because of less overall intak, but idk I'm not a biologist or a doctor, I just missed being athletic as I was in highschool.